Exclusive! It was a conscious choice to present the dark tale of Nodi Swamy Ivanu Irode Heege with comedy: Rishi

Nodi Swamy Ivanu Irode Heege is Rishi’s first solo-hero release since 2019’s Sarvajanikarige Suvarnavakaasha; a film that was made with the intention of getting it across to the actor’s target audience with an OTT release. The Islahuddin NS directed film is set to drop on Zee5 Kannada on Friday. “Nodi Swamy was supposed to be a 2021 release, but then it got delayed because of the pandemic. We never thought of it as a theatrical release, to be very honest. It’s a story that is about my character and his personal journey more than anything else. I always saw it as a niche content experimental film. There is no big-screen experience to it and this is something that we were pretty clear about. Then, it was a matter of deciding which platform to go with and eventually Zee5 worked out best for the team,” says Rishi.

The decision to take the film to OTT came because of the changed pattern of content consumption among audiences. These days, there are dime-a-dozen films releasing in theatres every week, yet, it is only a handful that manage to draw crowds irrespective of the content. “The few Kannada films that have had fairly decent box-office outings in recent times have all been star driven. The whole publicity and positioning of a film is important now. Now that the inflow of films is so high, how do you position it and stand out from the rest is a big challenge. Publicity costs have skyrocketed and the Youtube algorithms have changed. For instance, say, three years ago, whatever video content, be it a trailer or a song, etc., there were organic views that one could expect. But that’s not the case anymore and you need to pay to get any kind of reach. Most producers don’t understand that spending money on marketing a film is as important as making it. I think the next one year is going to be a transition phase, where everyone tries to understand how the business works, what are the changes, etc.,” he reasons.

The film, Nodi Swamy Ivanu Irode Heege, is a dark comedy that deals with heartbreak, depression and the suicidal tendencies of the protagonist. Irrespective of the genre of film, suicide is a sensitive subject. How does one handle something like that without coming across as insensitive or offending sensibilities? If not handled well, it is a subject that can trigger undesired outcomes. “When the story came to me, way before Operation Alamelamma also, I didn’t understand the state of mind of the character and wanted to work with Islahuddin on something else. In fact, he was working on the script of a mainstream commercial film for me, but in the 2-3 years that then went by, the subject of Nodi Swamy… haunted me subconsciously. Later, when I met someone who was deeply depressed and maybe even had suicidal thoughts, I realized that I could empathize with them and understand where they are coming from, why it was happening, etc. I started seeing a pattern, which was very helpful for me as an actor, because I could see the related behavioural aspects. I then met a mental health experts and psychiatrists to help me understand this better because this is a complicated scenario. The character in the film tends to daydream and then hallucinates too. In psychiatric terms, he is in psychosis, a level above depression, wherein people start hallucinating. After these conversations with experts, we thought that we had some material to go ahead with it. But the challenge then was, as you said, in presenting it sensitively. The way the story is narrated would be funny for audiences. This was a conscious choice, because if we were to go extremely true to the character, it would be a dark space for the audience to be in. The question then was, what perspective are we going to present – that of the character or the audience? While the story is funny for audiences, for the character it is a difficult space that he doesn’t want to be in. We were clear that this film will not be from the perspective of the character, because then it will be quite dark,” explains Rishi.

The actor goes on to elaborate, “The challenge in taking the audience perspective was to ensure that they empathize with the character and understand why this is happening to him. If we don’t do that, then he is as good as a clown, or the more taboo ‘mental case’. We didn’t want that to happen. Our intention was to have everyone who watches this film to be able to empathize with people with mental health problems. Also, we thought that if we present a serious subject in an equally serious tone, it will not work with audiences. We needed to entertain people, while also trying to make them understand the message; ultimately driving home the point we were stating is most important. We have tried to balance it as much as possible, while also staying true to the character and his world.”

According to data from the government, last year, there were more deaths due to suicide than Covid. “This is a burning issue that needs to be talked about and it gets a mention in the film. In fact, this became one of the primary reasons why I did this film. Although I have been doing mainstream commercial cinema, I’ve also been clear that if there is any film with social subjects, I want to be a part of it. There is no point in doing commercial cinema all the time; people should also be able to learn or get something out of it. If someone thinks differently after watching this film, that would be a big victory for us,” says Rishi.

Up next, the actor is looking at a theatrical release with yet another comedy, Ramanavatara, which will probably be out by the end of the year. “In fact, the film will be ready in another month, but we are looking at waiting it out, because the release window is quite jam-packed till the end of October. There’s also Sakalakala Vallabha with Reba John, which may just go the OTT way also. But that’s still being discussed. I have been working on a web series too, which should be out by the end of the year. So, OTT is really looking good for me right now,” he signs off.